With 61 million Indians now on Facebook, 2012 saw a massive number of Indian brands exploring the platform in their own ways. From product launches to milestone celebrations with fans, brands and their agencies tried all marketing tactics. Some went on to create benchmarks while others played the safe game by creating vanilla campaigns.

At our end we reviewed more than 100 campaigns out of which we have shared the best 39 Facebook campaigns of 2012 in India. We have not rated them; we have picked them on the basis of factors like aligned with objective, creative thinking, following guidelines, etc. Here’s the list:

1. Now Get Chivas Listed Through Facebook: The Chivas India campaign enabled a fan to get listed and be part of an exclusive inner circle. It also helped to build a relevant community by being a ‘like’ campaign. The beautiful design and layout of the app left me quite impressed too. Read the entire campaign here.

2. Twist Of Taste On Fox Traveller is Back: ‘Twist of Taste’ was back with Michelin star chef Vineet Bhatia as its Food Jockey and the campaign was designed keeping in mind the launch. I was impressed by the subtle ways of the campaign engaging with the followers – a great landing page, coupled with videos and submission of user generated content were the features I reckon for any brand pages who aim for great engagement. Read the entire campaign here.

4. Nissan India Drives Engagement Through FriendsTrip: Nissan offered a day trip for fans and their friends on the Nissan Micra, to promote the new launch through the FriendsTrip Facebook contest. Lucky fans even enjoyed chauffeur driven cars. For me, FriendsTrip is an ingenious move to spread the feel of owning a Micra and having a good time along with friends. Read the entire campaign here.

5. BMW X1 Explores The Creative Side: BMW India invited fans to be creative with their latest X1 series giving them a 3 days/2 nights stay at Munich, Germany including a chance to visit the BMW Museum and plant. I liked the concept of letting fans design their own cars as well as the design of the app. Read the entire campaign here.

6. Radio KFC Hunts For RJs Through Facebook: I was quite impressed with this initiative by KFC to hunt for RJs amongst its Facebook community who would host the Radio KFC, a branded channel playing a mix of international music in KFC stores.Two benefits that stand out for such campaigns – a) the brand creates advocates by giving ownership to its community, and b) it positions itself as the chosen brand for the youth by engaging through their choice of social network – Facebook. Read the entire campaign here.

7. Mystery Of The Stolen Wardrobe Facebook Contest By Louis Philippe: To promote its latest Autumn/Winter 2012 Bloomsbury collection, the brand launched a fun mystery thriller campaign “Mystery of the Stolen Wardrobe”, where fans get to play Sherlock Holmes and discover the new collection. Read the entire campaign here.

8. Asian Paints Launches ‘Colour Ki Lari’: Asian Paints that went for a re-branding exercise prior to Diwali gave fans an opportunity to win a home makeover by joining their friends to a specially created lari made of Facebook friends.Colour ki lari is a winner both in terms of concept and execution. It reflects the spirit of Diwali by being colourful, bright and bonding in nature. Read the entire campaign here.

9. ibis Rebrands With A Pillow Fight Party: French hotel group Accor owned ibis brand family of economy hotels entered a new era by launching 3 complimentary brands focusing on well-being, ultimate comfort and high level of service at the best price. As a part of its new global rebranding, Ibis launched the world’s biggest virtual pillow fight on its Facebook page for its fans. It was designed to let fans discover the new ibis family of hotels in a fun way. The top 10 scorers where given a 3-night stay at a select ibis family hotel. Read the entire campaign here.

10. Benelave Bathroom Singer: A wonderful move for the bathroom accessories brand to associate themselves with bathroom singing, a relatable habit for most people. The hunt for bathroom singers through a Facebook contest also promised to reward the top three winners with a cash award of 100,000, 75,000 & 50,000 respectively. Read the entire campaign here.

11. Mahindra Racing Facebook Campaign For Malaysian Grand Prix: Team Mahindra Racing, the first MotoGP team from India, invited 4 fans (2 boys and 2 girls) who would be the face of Mahindra Racing circuit at the Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang, through a Facebook contest. What better way to celebrate Mahindra Racing’s venture in to the Malaysian Grand Prix than to invite its Facebook fans through an exciting contest. Read the entire campaign here.

12. Budweiser India Budstation Campaign: Budweiser means buds and celebration. The brand did the same on Facebook and it gave away a fully paid trip to Las Vegas in which you can take two of your friends as well! All a fan needed to do is share moments with her friends through photos, videos, stories and tweets at the Budstation and earn points. Read the entire campaign here.

13. Kotak Mahindra Bank Engages With Sabse Smart Contest:Sabse Smart was an interesting campaign where the brand tested fans financial quotient via a quiz and rewarded winners with Flipkart vouchers. The campaign also highlighted the underlying message that 6 is better than 4, meaning banking with them gives you better benefits than banking with others. Read the entire campaign here.

14. Nokia India’s One Minute Songstar Campaign: The dual SIM smartphone Asha 305 comes with super-fast music download and as per tests carried out in a few cites by Nokia, it takes just a minute to download a track from the Nokia Music Service. To promote this feature the brand organized the campaign that gave a chance to win the Nokia Asha 305, Bluetooth headsets and an opportunity to feature their song in the Nokia Music Service. Read the entire campaign here.

15. Zee TV Ramayan Campaign: The Ram Darbar was a brilliant move by Zee TV to promote the show on Facebook. It was a one-of-its-kind innovation for a TV show engaging on social media along with a well built app that allowed you to offer prayers from Facebook itself. Read the entire campaign here.

16. Kodak Wedding Collections On Facebook And Choose Your Theme: Kodak, the leader in photography for over 100 years, launched a Facebook campaign to promote its latest product of wedding print services – the Kodak Collections. A fantastic product promotion on Facebook along with a well designed app. Read the entire campaign here.

19. McDonalds India Introduces McEggs: McDonalds India launched yet another Facebook campaign to publicize its new product – the McEgg burger apart from the earlier Egg-tease one. The app asked fans to give a new look to their friends and get ‘likes’ on their creation. And both could win a free McEgg based on the likes they garner. Read the entire campaign here.

20. Yes Bank Engages Fans With Saat Ka Sikandar Contest: Yes Bank launched the ‘Saat ka Sikandar’ contest on Facebook that tested the movies quotient of fans and allowed them to win a cool smartphone as the grand prize. Most of us are crazy about movies and engaging fans on a continuous basis was a smart move on Facebook. Read the entire campaign here.

21. Vicks India Invites Fans To Cheer For Champions: The brand that claims to be the No.1 brand for cough and cold, invited fans on Facebook to create the ultimate anthem for Indian cricket team during the T20 world cup. In return the brand had rewards such as 25 surprise gift hampers and ICC T20 tickets too for lucky winners. To execute the idea it designed a cool app with a neat layout, smooth navigation, etc. Read the entire campaign here.

22. Tata Docomo Invites Fans To Complete Stories: To create a buzz about its new TVC the brand launched a campaign to complete the story prior to its launch and creative story makers stood a chance to win smartphones by HTC. Read the entire campaign here.

23. Colour Your Day With Amul PRO: Amul launched a Facebook campaign to promote Amul PRO, its new malt-based milk additive. The brand designed ‘Colour your day’ a well-thought out application, keeping the end consumer in mind – children. It is an old trick called ‘emotional’ marketing that works on the theory that if you can win the kids, the parents are yours. Moreover, it gels with the generation of Facebooking parents who would love to share their kids’ masterpieces. Read the entire campaign here.

24. Nerolac Paints Crowdsources For A New Jingle: Nerolac Paints, launched a ‘jingle’ recreation contest in association with TalentHouse India, an online platform that provides opportunities for the creative community. The best jingle also got Rs. 1 lakh and 4 runners-up and the most voted entry received Rs.25,000 each. Read the entire campaign here.

25. Aviva India’s ‘Happy Frames’: Happy Frames was a fun contest on Facebook that gave an opportunity for parents to share pictures with their kids and win merchandise autographed by Sachin Tendulkar. It was a delight to experience right from the time of clicking on the Facebook ad to signing off from the app. Read the entire campaign here.

26. Cadbury Celebrations Lights Up Raksha Bandhan: Cadbury Celebrations brought Raksha Bandhan celebrations on to Facebook with a wonderful app that lit up the map of India with each Raksha Bandhan wish, along with a chance for siblings to feature on hoardings across the country. Read the entire campaign here.

27. Reliance Mobiles Makes You A Star With ‘Confessions of a Sociaholic’: Reliance Mobiles launched an interesting app ‘Confessions of a Sociaholic’ that made a movie star out of fans, based on their Facebook updates, photos and videos. The concept of revealing a fan’s social quotient on Facebook is definitely new and later based on your total usage, the app suggested Reliance data plans for you. Read the entire campaign here.

28. Vicks India Hunt For The Power Of Voice: Vicks India was on the hunt for the most powerful voice of India on Facebook and gave away Sony PSP, Nokia Lumia 710 and iPad2 as prizes.The contest was about nominating a post on your Facebook newsfeed that you believed was inspiring, powerful or thought-provoking. Read the entire campaign here.

29. Canon India Brings ‘PIXSAW’ Jigsaw Puzzle To Launch PIXMA: Canon India created another fun, simple and rocking contest on its Facebook page called ‘Pixsaw’, where you had to solve a jigsaw puzzle in the fastest time and give the most creative caption to win a Canon PIXMA printer every day till the end of contest. Read the entire campaign here.

30. Meri Maggi Brings ‘Share Your Maggi Moments’: Taking the TVC further, the brand gave the fans a chance to feature on Maggi noodles pack and ad, by sharing how they created 2 minutes of kushiyan with Maggi. For this the brand created an app on their Facebook page titled ‘Share your Maggi moments’ which was a 4-month long campaign. Read the entire campaign here.

31. Micromax Funbook With A Letter To Your Dad: Funbook, the budget tablet from Micromax targeted at the youth caters to their distinct need for education as well as entertainment on a single device. Taking the idea forward, Micromax had launched a campaign on Facebook where you could win a Micromax Funbook by writing a convincing letter to your dad. Read the entire campaign here.

32. Surf Excel India’s ‘Back To School’ Campaign: Surf Excel in partnership with GuideStar India, a place to look for NGO’s had launched the ‘Back to School’ campaign. Parents could make a gift box out of their child’s used books, stationery, toys and clothes and then donate it to an NGO of their choice. More than 160 NGOs from across India were part of this campaign. Read the entire campaign here.

33.Nat Geo Moment Awards campaign: A photography contest by National Geographic channel where winners could get their work featured on the channel and also win a trip to South Africa. A well thought of campaign involving fans and the contest seems to be well thought of right from the strategy, design and user experience to make it a shareable and memorable one. Read the entire campaign here.

34. Ford India “I Pledge To Drive Safe” campaign:“I Pledge To Drive Safe” is a safe driving Facebook campaign that has been initiated for it’s fans. Even if the incentives are not that great, fans would love to take pride in sharing amongst their community as they are supporting a motion. A simple but an effective way of engaging fans beyond the common mentality of free gifts and discounts. Read the entire campaign here.

35. Garnier ‘Bust Blackheads’ campaign: Any brand that utilizes storytelling in its communication strategy is bound to create a difference and Garnier did the same. ‘Bust blackheads’ campaign is an interactive story campaign starring blackheads as characters with names and personalities and who live on your face. The characters have been introduced one by one with teasers for each and what’s more is that each character has a Facebook page of its own! A sure shot winner and you can read the entire campaign here.

36. Van Heusen’s VDot Hotstepper campaign: With VDot, the premium clubwear brand of Van Heusen and John Abraham as the brand ambassador, the concept was a winner. It not only encouraged its fans to check out the 2012 Spring Summer Collection but also got you to buy them and in return you could party with The Bollywood sensation John Abraham. Read the entire campaign here .

37. Bru Exotica greatest coffee lover campaign: Bru, the popular coffee company had started a challenge on Facebook called ‘India’s Greatest Coffee Lover’. All you had to do is answer a few questions and the one true coffee devotee will win the trip and the less lucky ones stood a chance to win exclusive Bru Exotica hampers and Bru World Café merchandise every week. Bru Exotica not only had an interesting contest aligned to it’s objective but also kept fans glued on the Facebook page for longer duration. Read the entire campaign here.

38. Knorr Sabse Bada Soup-a-Star: FMCG major HUL launched the Facebook campaign to promote its new product, Knorr Cup a Soup. The contests had a grand prize of being featured as a ‘Soup-a-Star’ on CNBC along with iPod Shuffle and all you had to do was share a story in which you have been caught between two seniors at work or simply been in a sticky situation like being in a soup! The campaign not only took a brilliant idea from every day life, the Facebook app was quite appealing too. Read the entire campaign here.

39. ‘Give Them Wings’ Expedia: Expedia, the world’s largest online travel company made a resolution in January. It planned to fly 100 street and working kids from the Butterflies NGO on a fun-filled 3 days holiday to Mumbai. And in return Expedia wanted its fans to be a part of its resolution by joining the Facebook community and spread the initiative. For every ‘like’ and for every 10 shares amongst your friends, Expedia would contribute Rs. 10 to their travel fund. Read the entire campaign here.

We hope the bar is raised in 2013 and we see more integrated and innovative campaigns for communities on social media.